LOCAL HISTORY
“It was clearly visible to see where the furnace stood in the middle and one of the flues at the front was visible and blocked with broken glass. The floor of the cone was uneven and covered with clear glass mostly from kids playing in there and breaking bottles. Outside of the cone there were mounds of uneven ground and long grass. It was often possible to stumble across lumps of clear green glass that would have been used in the furnace.
Photograph courtesy of Gerald Robinson
The Beatson Clarke name has become synonymous with glassmaking in Rotherham. But some ten years before its inception in 1751, Catcliffe Glassworks was established by William Fenney, who built the intriguing glass cone that is perched on a small hill overlooking the road connecting Brinsworth and Catcliffe.
The building of Catcliffe Cone and the glassworks was said to be instigated by family dramas. William Fenney was previously the manager of Bolsterstone Glass Works in Stocksbridge, owed by his wife’s family. But a falling out with his mother-in-law led to him leaving to start his own company. She gave strict orders any new works were to be more than ten miles away from hers – Catcliffe is 10.5 miles away. Catcliffe Cone is the oldest surviving of its
type in Western Europe and one of only six that remain in the UK. But Fenney originally built two conical brick structures at Catcliffe, each reaching 66ft (20 metres) tall with archways around the base to allow for air entry. A previous calculation
has indicated it must have required somewhere in the region of 120,000 bricks per cone. Inside was a large circular furnace with a flue that carried waste gas out through the top of the cone. Around the furnace was a circular platform that workers stood on.
The development of the use of these types of cones revolutionised the manufacture of glass, helping turn Britain into one of the leading centres of glass production in the world. In the 18th century, Catcliffe was one of ten sites of glass furnaces throughout South Yorkshire. It made bottles and window glass; in 1755 they supplied the Wentworth estate with 900 square metres of windows.
The Catcliffe glassworks changed hands many times over the next 130 years until it closed in 1887, reopening for a short time in 1900. After that, it was used as a Prisoner of War Camp during WWI and then a canteen during the Great Strike of 1926.
By the time Rotherham Council bought the building in the 1960s, it was derelict and in a poor state and threatened with demolition. Alan Austin grew up in the village at that time and remembers the area well.
“The locals always called it Skittle Alley, and as far as I am aware it had never been documented why it was so called. My theory is that Skittle is the name for a certain type of bottle and Alley is a passageway behind buildings. Could this have been an area where bottles from the Glass Cone were stored? “A dust track ran alongside the cone and the local coal merchant, Mr Downsby, had a large garage where he kept his coal waggon. Topside of the tracks was an area called the Bankings which used to hold the traveling fairground that attended quite regularly. But it has also been mentioned that Joey Hodson used to bring his traveling circus and held shows in the cone,” Alan says. As part of the Collaborative Connections project, the cone was lit up outside with an immersive light projection devised by visual art duo, Illuminos. The commission, called Cocoon, is based around metamorphosis and transformation, connecting this to local people through key moments of change and transformation in their lives. The dramatic visuals depicted how glassmaking has changed over time.
“It made bottles
and window glass; in 1755 they supplied the Wentworth estate with 900 square metres of windows.
”
aroundtownmagazine.co.uk 51
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
